Blog Comments & Posts

I feel the small businesses (that many of us serve) are being left behind to larger brands with budgets and the ability to develop and post content that may someday result in inbound links. The future of Google and SEO seems like it's reserved for the larger brands and well financed startups.

Rand - a debate is raging at our agency - are the spammy footer links you refer to at 4:25 in the video similar to the footer links we find at many sites, like SEOMoz? Could you further define what would constitute over-optimization in the footer.Thanks,

This post definitely forces us to think about how Google intends to use authorship as a relevency tool. I'm skeptical that it will be widely adopted as a strong search signal for these reasons:1) It's too tied to individual authorship and industries like SEO where creating a brand around a single individual is the goal. 2) Seems easy to manipulate. Who will be the first adopters? SEO experts. Who will be second? Our clients. It doesn't feel natural.3) This change makes Google searches an insulated community where Google+ factors too strongly influence the SERPS.

Good information, Stephanie.Depending on how your ecommerce site handles these you might want to just leave your inactive products live. My site ranks really well for some products I no longer sell but still attract traffic to the site. Surely they bounce at a higher rate but I'd rather have the chance to attract the customer than to never have them visit at all.An Excellent Feature - if your ecommerce solution supports it having a "Notify Me When Product is Back In Stock" is an outstanding way to drive sales and keep in touch with your customers. I know that InstanteStore.com has this feature and when an out of stock product is returned to stock this always generates immediate sales.Thanks - Mark

Dr. Pete - great post - since SEO involves a constant learning curve we all need to take your advice to the newbies. We may be on page SEO experts but are we great content creators, or do we understand all the potential impacts of Google+? Bite off an extra 20%? I think I'm normally at about 50%!

Rick - you took some heat on this one - but please don't hesitate to come back and dig in deeper next time. I actually enjoyed the basic lesson because I'm juggling so many balls that sometimes a lesson like this reminds me to focus on the key metrics - just like I tell clients all the time! Good WBF and hope you are back for more.

A great Lilac Board Friday, Rand! It's easy to spend so much time in the details and analytics to forget all the other factors that drive a business forward - so many which are out of the control of the SEO but truly an integral part of the overall "marketing" of the firm.

Excellent post, Rand. I learned SEO by necessity after creating an ecommerce site. The blending of good content with product pages (and thus sales) is a great idea. I've seen pretty good organic search increases based on well researched and written content but it hasn't always converted. This WBF will definitely help.

SEO vs Inbound Marketing. I prefer Inbound Marketing, if only for this reason. It's a much easier concept to explain to clients than SEO. In 60 seconds I can explain the general concept and get across the complexity of today's online marketing environment. But if you're a purist and want to stick with SEO, feel free.

Great video, Rand. This seems to take social media to the next level of importance for both business and SEO. While the rate of change and increasing complexity can make your head spin it also provides incredible opportunities for businesses with an online presence and the consultants who support them.

Great start to 2012, Rand. I learn something every Friday - like the definition of tiny. As my career has moved from IT Management to SEO I'm amazed at the amount of knowledge required to be successful in this field.